| Deliver Us from Eva | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Gary Hardwick |
| Produced by | Paula Weinstein Barry Levinson Paddy Cullen Len Amato |
| Written by | James Iver Mattson B.E. Brauner Gary Hardwick |
| Starring | LL Cool J Gabrielle Union Essence Atkins Duane Martin Mel Jackson, Megan Good |
| Music by | Marcus Miller |
| Cinematography | Alexander Gruszynski |
| Editing by | Earl Watson |
| Distributed by | Focus Features |
| Release date(s) | February 7, 2003 |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $22,573,594 |
Deliver Us from Eva is a 2003 American feature film starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union, revolving around LL's character Ray being paid to date a troublesome young lady named Eva (Union). To some extent, it is a modern, urban update of William Shakespeare's play, The Taming of the Shrew. It was released to the US theaters on February 7, 2003 by Focus Features, and also stars Essence Atkins, Duane Martin, and Mel Jackson.
The title is a play on a line of the Lord's Prayer: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Contents |
The Dandridge sisters, Evangeline (Eva for short), Kareenah, Bethany and Jacqui live in Los Angeles, California. While Eva does not have a significant other, her sisters do. Eva, who works for the city's health department as an inspector, is bossy and believes only she knows what's best for herself and her sisters and cannot get along at all with their husbands/boyfriends. When the four sisters band together to protect a family inheritance it is the last straw. The men turn to Ray Adams (LL Cool J), a restaurant meat delivery trucker, to solve their problem, paying him to keep Eva busy and out of their respective lives. Unfortunately for Ray, he falls in love with Eva at first sight, but she proves to have a tart tongue and suspicious nature. Adams patiently begins to bring her around to the idea of a romantic relationship, even as she toys with the idea of leaving the city.
Eva and Ray fall hopelessly in love with each other, and Eva even temporarily abandons her shrewish ways. But Ray's friends panic and attempt to break up the blossoming romance, claiming their wives never let them hear the end of the latest with Eva and Ray, and that Eva intends to stay in the city. Things get so complicated that the men finally hatch a daring plan: kidnap Ray, lie to Eva about his death in an accident and cajole her into leaving the city. Eva believes them and arranges a tearful funeral for her "dead" boyfriend, but in the middle of the service Ray appears, having escaped his prison, and the whole truth comes out. An angry Eva dumps Ray, leaves the city and resolves to start a new life. But Ray hasn't quite given up. He shows up at Eva's job on a white horse and persuades her to forgive him. She agrees to take him back, split up the inheritance, and apologizes for her interference in her sisters' relationships.
The film opened at #6 in the U.S. Box office in the weekend of February 7, 2003, raking in $6,648,374 USD in its first opening weekend.